The present invention relates to a technique for reducing the size of an ink jet recording apparatus.
In the prior art, an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a station type ink supply system has been known. That is, this type of ink jet recording apparatus includes: a carriage that carries a recording head for ejecting ink through an ejection nozzle and thereby performing recording on a recording medium and a sub-tank for storing ink supplied to the recording head; and a main tank for storing the ink supplied to the sub-tank. Then, when the amount of ink in the sub-tank decreases, a pump mechanism pressurizes the inside of the main tank so that the ink is supplied from the pressurized main tank to the sub-tank. Here, it should be noted that plural sets of the sub-tank, the main tank, and the pump mechanism described above are provided (see, for example; Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-9442 (pages 4 and 5 and FIG. 4).